| Show I SOOTHING TO READ t Reviews of Some Late Books and Magazines THE STORY OF WASHINGTON i Balef Notes Concernin the Writers and r Their WorksA Treatise of the Law ji end Practices in Justice Courts Speaking of the recent novel Hermia Suydam Current Literature savs it is having hav-ing hard luck with the critics With few exceptions the book has been roundly denounced de-nounced incontinently damned Not for style nor interest of story but because of its alleged immorality With all proper respect for these various opinions we beg to differ The book is not immoral veI is brutal Its fault is that it is a fact instead of fiction The book is in its fifth edition The Fortnightly Review declares that the t3ndency now in fiction writing is to spread a little over a great deal of surface whereas tie old fashion traceable from George Ellio I back to Fielding was to fullness of incident and matter Fiction has almost reached the point of sheer bravado It describes the popular novel as miracles inexhaustible inexhaust-ible nothingness in which the tiniest rivulet of incident just trickles across a continent of dialogue ExCollege President James McCosh writing to the Now York Ledger gives it as an opinion that the novel may yet come to be an authority on religion He also declares that our best novels of I late years have been written by ladies and he thinks this will still be the rule Mr Kirke Munro is writing a life of Harriet Beecher Stowe He is collecting material in Massachusetts Carl Lumboltz the Australian explorer whose book descriptive of four years spent among the cannibals of Australia has been translated into many languages is to deliver de-liver a course of lectures before the New York Geological society Alfred Trimble is publishing a new weekly called Lies General Low Wallace contemplates writing writ-ing a historical novel the scene of which i 3 to be laid in Rome It is hinted that he wants the mission to that place that he may prosecute his researches Captain Driant of the French Zouaves a soninlaw of Boulanger has written and published a poem La Guerre de Demain and has been condemned to thirty days imprisonment for the offence No French officer is allowed to publish any of his works without permission but as this rule is publicly honored in the breach more than in the observance it is charged that the soninlaw is punished for the fatherin law Paris is indignant as a result Guy de Maupassant is engaged on a new novel entitled Fort Comme La Morte On its publication lie is going to make a journey through Africa We may draw our own inferences The George Sand by M Caro is credited cred-ited with being by far the most discriminating discrim-inating judicious and entertaining critique ever given by this celebrated author and woman It is translated by Melville B Anderson Honore Fragonard by Baron Roger Portalis best known as the author of u great work on the eighteenth century is the result of the most patient research arduous ar-duous labor and indefatigable study of ancient an-cient documents His is a biography almost al-most without equal All the chefs VauvreS of this French master as charming as Clodian as provoking as Watteau yet with some of the dash and passion of Rubens have been conscientiously reproduced and carefully classified until a rare perfection has been attained It is described as one of tho most beautiful volumes that has war been seen Donn Piatt editor of IJclfonlg Magazine is sixtyfour years old and attends his office as regularly as he did his sanctum in Paris when he represented the United States government there during the time of Napoleon Na-poleon The March Babyland has a dozen or more charming pictures which will please the youngest readers None of the periodicals for the very little people excels the Baby land Address D Lothrop Co Boston I Bos-ton Mass Dr Carl Lnmboltz of the University of Christiana Norway has written a book called Among Cannibals depicting his long sojourn among the savage tribes of northeastern Australia The book which is to have numerous maps and illustrations will be published by the Scribners Rand McNally Co are about to erect in Adams street Chicago a building for their printing and publishing business which will be nine stories in height with a frontage front-age of 150 feet and a depth of 165 Its cost is to be 500000 It is claimed that it will be the largest and completest establishment of the sort in the world But a similar claim is made for the imposing structure now going up at Fifth avenue and Sixteenth street New York for the Judge and also for the Methodist book concern building at Fifth avenue and Twentieth street New YorkTieDiary The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris are about to be brought out in London Lon-don as the most important American diary ever published Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe has so improved im-proved in health as to be able to revise the biography of herself written by Rev Charles Stowe and Mr Kirk Munro The book will be published soon by Houghton Mifflin Co Messrs J B Lippincott company announce the publication of a Cyclopaedia of the Diseases of Children medical and surgical by American British aDd Canadian Cana-dian authors edited by John M Keating M D in four volumes to be sold by sub scrition The first volume will be issued early in April and the subsequent volumes at short intervals The Century Dictionary is to contain some features new in dictionaries one of which is the entry of everything in the one alphabetical order abbreviations and foreign for-eign phrases as well as common words While the plan of the work excludes biographical bio-graphical and geographical names yet such adjectives as Chinese Darwinian etc derived from proper names will find place and be fully defined THE STOny OP WASHINGTON THE NATIONAL CAPITALBy Charles Burr Todd author of The Story of New York etc Illustrated New York G Putnams Sons Price 2175 The guidebooks tells us about Washington Washing-ton but they tell us in a way that we dont like to be told as they run to figures statistics sta-tistics statements made on the square and level and to prosiness Mr Todd writes a story that is entertaining as fiction while it contains the facts about the great and handsome city The capital city belongs be-longs to all the American people and all of them are interested in it The author does not go into the minor details which are useful only to the local resident but draws such a picture of Washington as will entertain enter-tain and instruct all and furthermore his description will make the reader proud that the nation has so beautiful and grand a capital The book abounds in illustrations and is printed and bound in the highest style of the art A TREATIES ON THE LAW AND PRACTICE INJUSTICES IN-JUSTICES Conuis as determined by the htatues and decisions of the states of Cal fornia Colorado Nevada and Oregon and the Moa ananUtah territories of Arizona Idaho Montana Utah and Washington In civil and criminal cases with a full collection of forms By Jabez F Cowdery of the San Francisco bar In two volumes San Francisco BancroftWhitney j company Price 13 1 There has long been a demand for a work j of this character both by the hundreds of Justices and by the lawyers who practice in t their courts Very few of the justices can afford to purchase the books which they require re-quire for the intelligent and legal performance perform-ance of their duties and not many of the Justices can afford the time necessary to collect and learn what is enacted for them to know in regard to the law the pleadings plead-ings forms and so on The procedure in the states and territories west of the Rocky mountains is similar the statutes of California Cali-fornia having been very closely followed in all the Slope commonwealths and yet I there is enough of difference to preclude the possibility of a justice in one i a rsi relying upon the course practice and decisions in another These differences i are clearly marked and defined in the Treatise the statutes being given either in substance or in the exact phraseology of the codes the variations being stated in the notes Mr Cowdery who is an old practitioner has very thoroughly covered the ground both as to civil and criminal cases and has given a work which is in itself a complete com-plete law library not only for the justice jus-tice but for the lawyer whose practice does not go outside the justices courts Some of the chapters are adapted to practice in the higher courts but the work is essentially one for the justice The arrangement is convenient and easily understood the subjects sub-jects beingclassfied and treated under their respective heads as pleadings trials appeals costs contempt bail and so on The chapters number fifty eight A comprehensiveindex accompanies the work |
